Bought a SSD, where do I install my programs?

[Plankis]

So I bought a new 240 GB SSD, C:, and a new faster harddrive, G:. At the moment the
OS is intalled on C:.
Cubase is installed on C:.
VST .dll's are located on C:\(...)\VSTPlugins
VST/VSTi installations and samples are on G:.
Raw tracks are also on G:.

With this setup my projects are choking, CPU wise, so it's obviously wrong. It could easily play the projects on my old harddrive that had all the programs in it without the CPU meter going crazy and the sound cutting in and out.

Where did I go wrong and what's the best way to route these sort of things?

 

[shred101]

Do a ctrl+alt+del and look at the CPU usuage per program. If you're using Reaper then you can also pull up CPU usage information for each VST while the program is running. Other DAW's probably can do this as well. Basically, look at your computer's performance charts and your DAW's internal performance charts and find out what's hogging your CPU.

 

[sprack]

Cubase won't break it down like that for you. Process Explorer will get you a lot of what you are looking for. For more detailed info beyond that you'll have to dig into ETW tools.

 

[AD Chaos]

May need to perform a BIOS update. It might fix the problem.

 

[Plankis]

Thanks guys I really appreciate it!
Cubase doesn't have that kind of feature but I'm pretty sure it's Superior drummer 2 (samples installed on G: ) that does the majority of the crapping out. I tried bypassing it and it got a lot better. The sound still cuts in and out, just not as often. It's still terrible.

Cubase won't break it down like that for you. Process Explorer will get you a lot of what you are looking for. For more detailed info beyond that you'll have to dig into ETW tools.

Gave this a try. Unfortunately it doesn't show more than the Cubase processor and besides the cpu value just sits around 18-35%. Which is odd, the cpu meter (Left one on the transport panel) in Cubase is maxed out when I press play.

I may try a BIOS update later. I've read earlier that it is a bit more difficult than to just press the install.exe.

But you guys don't think it's just a routing issue? If I change some install paths it wont get better?
Where have you installed your DAW's, VST's, VSTi's and raw tracks?

 

[CronosBeyond]

Do you have the same problems if you have only your system (Windows, Programs, ...) stuff on the SSD?

 

[sprack]

Process explorer shows processor utilization. Cubase shows the ASIO driver's utilization which is dependent on a lot of other factors. The advice to try a newer bios is relevant because it might have improvements in device power management and specifically processor power management. Try going into bios and making sure that C-states and Turbo mode are disabled as they will cause drop outs.

What process explorer will show you is what the utilization is per thread and child processes. So if you dig down you can find which VST is soaking. Is this on playback, recording or live monitoring that you're peaking? If you're only doing playback you can buy yourself some headroom on the ASIO driver by increasing the block and buffers. IIRC Reaper does this automatically.

Gave this a try. Unfortunately it doesn't show more than the Cubase processor and besides the cpu value just sits around 18-35%. Which is odd, the cpu meter (Left one on the transport panel) in Cubase is maxed out when I press play.

I may try a BIOS update later. I've read earlier that it is a bit more difficult than to just press the install.exe.

 

[Plankis]

Problem solved!
As usual I forget the most basic things: CHANGING TO THE CORRECT FECKING ASIO!

I had the DirectX ASIO crap activated, no wonder shit didn't work...

Thanks for the help guys. I hope I didn't waste too much of your time. I had snowed in on it being a harddrive issue and forgot that it was also a fresh install with my old settings erased. Everything is working better now. I tried my Memnoir - The One-project that my old 5400 rpm harddrive choked a little on due to plenty of tracks playing at the same time: No issues at all.

For future reference the motherboard is a ASUS M4N78 PRO, processor is a AMD Phenom II x4 940.